Study: Nearly 40 percent of births to high school dropouts
By
Nick Tabor, New Era Senior Staff Writer
Nearly
40 percent of children born in Todd
County from 2007 to 2009
were born to mothers without high school diplomas, according to state records.
It’s
a figure widely disproportionate to the percent of adults over 24 who have
finished high school or gotten equivalency degrees — 74.9 percent, according to
U.S. Census data.
Regardless,
it doesn’t bode well for the future of Todd County’s
population, according to literature from Kentucky Youth Advocates. Children
born in these circumstances have higher rates of infant mortality, and it can
hurt their school readiness skills, academic achievement and health outcomes,
the Kentucky Youth Advocates study reports.
